Housing Market gone wild

[Saitek]

I really have no idea why our houses are so expensive. It isn't the brick and mortar. That is very little. It is the land. Britain isn't short of land, there is plenty of room and yet all over the South of Britain is really expensive. Now economics shows that if supply exceeds demand price falls. So therefore why can't the government make loads of land available for housing (maybe at an affordable price for first time buyers) to combat the shortage and enable prices to be more sensible?

[eno]

I really have no idea why our houses are so expensive. It isn't the brick and mortar. That is very little. It is the land. Britain isn't short of land, there is plenty of room and yet all over the South of Britain is really expensive. Now economics shows that if supply exceeds demand price falls. So therefore why can't the government make loads of land available for housing (maybe at an affordable price for first time buyers) to combat the shortage and enable prices to be more sensible?

It isn't just the South East thats expensive ....... Try buying a house in Derbyshire especially round the Peak District/ Matlock/ Ashover or any of the more desireable areas. The prices here have risen faster than in London all be it from a lower starting point. My wife sold her old house which she had bought for

[Hagar]

you' had better not even think about buying a home unless you're willing to spend a MINIMUM of $150,000 (about 80,000 pounds).

This is not a particularly cheap area to live but I think you would have to pay double that here for a very ordinary terraced house. I found this one in the less desirable* part of my home town for

[Scottler]

Yeah, Sarah was watching a show the other night that was about UK real estate, and she mentioned that the prices were ridiculous.  I suppose everywhere has vast fluctuation like that.  It's not bad, as long as the salaries fluctuate accordingly!  

[Hagar]

The most difficult part has always been getting a foot on the first rung of the housing ladder. Prices are relative & despite my home now being worth almost triple what I paid for it this is really only on paper & makes me no better off. I will have to pay a correspondingly higher price if I ever decide to move to another home. House prices usually increase & "bricks & mortar" used to be considered the best possible investment. This is no longer the case & many people are still suffering from the negative equity of the late 1980s when house prices slumped almost overnight. This meant that you could possibly owe a lot more to the mortgage company than your home was worth.

There have been rumours of a similar slump in the next few years. We shall have to wait & see what happens as many of these predictions have proven wrong before. This is dated February 18, 2003